The fashion boss, who had once been credited with turning the retailer around, is understood to have left the business with immediate effect, a month after it reported a 7.5% slump in first-quarter like-for-like sales.

Those results were New Look’s second consecutive first-quarter of flagging sales and profits, and seemingly the final straw for parent company Brait’s patience with Kristiansen’s turnaround strategy.

Kristiansen’s departure has not come as a massive shock, unlike Dunelm boss John Browett’s exit earlier this week.

The saying ‘live by the sword, die by the sword’ comes to mind.

As a boss that orchestrated a major reshuffle in the retailer’s product team earlier in the year, Kristiansen knows the value of fresh blood to turn around a struggling business – so perhaps his exit has not surprised him either.